May 25 (Reuters) – Indian shares are set to open higher on Monday, as crude oil prices fall below $100 per barrel for the first time in more than two weeks on prospects of a deal to end the Iran war.
U.S. President Donald Trump said on Saturday that Washington and Iran had “largely negotiated” a memorandum of understanding on a peace deal that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, which carried a fifth of global oil and LNG shipments before the war.
However, the Trump administration on Sunday played down hopes of an imminent breakthrough in the three-month-old war.
GIFT Nifty futures were at 23,952, as of 7:42 a.m. IST, indicating the benchmark Nifty 50 would open above Friday’s close of 23,719.3.
Asian stock markets rose 1.2% and Brent crude futures were down 4% at $99.39 per barrel on optimism that a peace deal was near. [MKTS/GLOB] [O/R]
The Nifty 50 and the Sensex have declined 5.8% and 7.2%, respectively, since the Iran war broke out in late February.
Foreign investors sold 44.4 billion rupees ($464.00 million) worth of Indian shares on Friday, as per provisional data. They have offloaded $23.9 billion of shares so far this year, surpassing 2025’s record annual outflows.
STOCKS TO WATCH
** Index provider FTSE to add six Indian companies to FTSE All-World and FTSE All-Cap indexes effective June 22. These companies are Tata Capital, Lenskart Solutions, LG Electronics India, Meesho, ICICI Prudential Asset Management and Groww.
** Aluminium producer Hindalco posted a surprise drop in quarterly profit, as expenses linked to a fire-related disruption at U.S. unit Novelis offset the benefit of higher base metal prices.
** Royal Enfield maker Eicher Motors beat quarterly profit estimates, as last year’s tax cuts boosted demand for its high-margin 350-cc motorcycles.
($1 = 95.6900 Indian rupees)
(Reporting by Vivek Kumar M; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)